Something Unexpected
by littlejuliet
Summary: After her exile, Lady Aeducan hopes to find her life long friend on the surface, but finding him leads to something new, something unexpected. Short Story. Thanks for reading!


**Author's Note: Dragon Age: Origins, characters & world belong to BioWare**

**| Lady Aeducan-Alistair |**

The mood at camp was tense at best. After their return from Denerim that day, Sereda and Alistair had been thoughtful, moody. Lelianna had refused to go into detail about the events of the day, and Sten kept to himself as always. No-one else had any idea of what was going on, but it was very clear that something was amiss. Zevran had tried fruitlessly to pry the information from them.

Sereda had taken a seat to one side, on her own and the food that Wynne had placed there was still next to her, untouched. She sat with a big shield in her lap, gently tracing the curves of the emblem and small imperfections with her finger. The shield was heavy and signs of aging added to the magnificence of it. She was utterly enthralled by it, staring at the metal work continuously. Rather abruptly she stood up and walked over to Alistair. Everyone had stopped what they were doing and followed her with their gazes, surprised by her sudden movement. She stopped when she reached him, and swallowing hard, wordlessly handed him the shield. His face was a mix of confusion and appreciation, as he placed his plate on the ground and took it from her. He too now examined it carefully, as if in awe, and then looking up at her whispered, "Thank you."

Nodding, she turned and walked away from the camp site, presumably to go for a stroll. But from the rapidly hastening of her retreating footsteps it was clear to everyone that she broke into a flat run once she passed into the trees. Alistair immediately got up and went after her, leaving the glistening shield where he had been seated.

***

Denerim had been stifling hot and when Sereda and her group entered the market square she wanted nothing better than to go to the nearest ale house for a drink. As she walked past the many vendors, letting her eyes brows their wares and her ears pick up their gossip, she suddenly heard one of the merchants, calling out his wares.

"Fine dwarven armor and weapons! Direct from Orzammar!"

Her head snapped in the direction, as she instantly recognized the voice. It was Gormin. It had to be. She had been on a private mission to search for him in every town that they have visited so far, asking discreet questions from anyone that would answer her. She couldn't contain her excitement as she neared the stall, her pace quickening and her face featuring a rather cat like grin. Her companions seemed confused by her sudden enthusiasm, but followed none the less. She stopped in front of the stall, silly smile still in place and merely stared at her life-long companion. She stood silently, as if she felt he might disappear should she say something, that he might be a sprite that would be startled by her voice. She had thought of this day wondering what it would be like, and she could hardly believe she had actually found him.

"Good day, can I interest you in…" the merchant faltered once he viewed his would-be customer more closely.

"My lady – My lady Aeducan?!" he gaped in surprise.

Her companions suddenly wore very confused expressions. They all knew that the royal house of the dwarves was Aeducan – that would mean…

"I'm so glad I found you – you know I've been asking everywhere we've stopped!" She was still smiling from ear to ear, so much so that she hardly realized her old friend's slight awkwardness.

"I knew you made it out alive!" he breathed, almost unbelieving.

"I knew you would find those Wardens!" he said this with emotion thickening his voice. "I saw King Endrin before I left. I was so angry with him, for what he had let them do to you, but he was so ill, so weak, I could not help but pity him. If ever there was someone to perish from regret, I think he did. He bid me give you this shield, the Shield of Aeducan. It's an odd irony isn't it?" he said as he handed her a cloth covered shield. She was frowning at what he had said.

"My… my father is dead?" she asked, closing her eyes as the shock hit her.

"I will kill Bhelen myself, if it's the last thing I do…" she hissed between her teeth. "Will you join me again then, as my second," she asked and after a slight pause, "as my friend?" She blushed slightly as she asked this.

"I… had injured my leg when I left Orzammar, it healed badly and I doubt I would be able to fight again. And I…" sighing deeply as if to gain courage, he continued, "I married into a surface family. I trade on behalf of my father in law." He could not meet her eye as he said this, half mumbling as if to avoid telling her at all.

For a long moment she stood looking at him, frowning.

"What – what about us?" she asked aghast. The horror and pain was clearly displayed on her face as she looked at him in disbelief.

"My lady, we were ill fated in Orzammar, we would be likewise here too. You are of noble blood, a princess. And I'm a mere warrior, and now not even that anymore…" he sounded so apologetic and ashamed, but his words apparently did little to comfort her.

"I _see_."

Her entire demeanor changed quite suddenly. She squared her shoulders and lifted her chin. Her eyes turned cold and hard, and she looked like all those stony statues of the dwarven ancestors. "So then, when do I get to meet the lucky girl?" she asked this with such even coolness that she sounded like someone else completely.

"I... would be honoured, but I'm sure you have more important things to do – would you like to see the wares I have?" he asked, clearly shying away from the prospect of introducing the two.

Sereda reached into her pack and unceremoniously dumped a heap of damaged armor on the ground, one item actually landed on Gorim's foot. He winced slightly but made no other move.

"These need repairing, they will be collected in the morning." She said in an offhand manner and turned on her heal to leave. Alistair looked back to the dwarf as they made their way to their next stop, and he could see the dwarf was a mess of regret, sadness and longing mingled with some confusion too.

Their next stop was to be Alistair's half sister Goldanna, and that meeting went just as poorly as the previous. His sister was a bitter woman that would sooner pry his last coins from him than give him any kindness. Sereda's temper had already been simmering, and she curtly suggested that they leave for camp. On the way she and Alistair had a brief discussion about what had transpired, and she encouraged him to be more assertive and to look out for himself more.

"You need to follow your heart for your own happiness sometimes, otherwise you might miss it completely," she had concluded with a sad wistful smile.

***

She was running so fast she didn't notice that someone was following her. Her grief and pain was finally too much, and she needed to vent somehow. She blamed the sky for her misfortune, so vast and limitless, she blamed her brother and her ancestors (especially Bhelen), and she even blamed the stone. She came to a small clearing where a couple of boulders protruded from the ground, and in a fit of annoyance she threw herself at one and started punching the unyielding hardness with her ungloved hands. She vaguely remembered hearing something crack and crunch as her second blow landed, but she didn't even register the pain.

By the time Alistair reached her, she was still hammering at the rock, yelling at it. Her hands were bleeding so severely the sight of it made his stomach turn. With some deliberate, but gentle, firmness he tore her from her attack and pulled her close to him in a tight embrace. She resisted at first, pounding against his chest as he pulled her closer. Eventually she desisted, but his shirt front was already smeared with blood from her knuckles. Once she gave into the embrace she sagged into ragged sobs. Alistair held her for a long moment, even after her tears had ended, but her frame would still give an uncontrollable shudder from the exertion at irregular intervals.

Finally she pulled away from him a bit, her eyes searching his face as she looked up at him. When she spoke her voice sounded hoarse and tired.

"My father is dead. I didn't even get to say good bye… I was in prison, exiled..." She frowned as she remembered her last few hours in Orzammar.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I... I was given my first expedition, as Commander. My older brother, Trian, was not very impressed, we had never really gotten along very well. My youngest brother, Bhelen, is a real little bastard – oh um, sorry no offence and not _that_ kind either…" Alistair merely smiled at her and nodded for her to continue.

"- well Bhelen had warned me that Trian would move against me, afraid that when our father returned to the stone I would be elected king by the assembly. I never aimed for the throne though… Anyway Duncan and a few other Wardens were entering the deep roads, but my father sent me on a side quest, to retrieve the shield of the Paragon Aeducan in the ruined Thaig. After an ambush we retrieved the shield, only to find Trian and his party dead at the assigned meeting point.

"Bhelen arrived just then, with my father, and claimed that I had killed Trian, out of greed and spite. The two scouts that had accompanied me and my… second… betrayed the truth and also claimed I was a murderer. I was immediately imprisoned. Bhelen had already half the assembly in his pocket, so convicting me was easy. I searched for Duncan once I was locked in the deep roads, knowing that was my only hope…" she finished quietly, staring at the ground as she retold of her misfortune.

"So you're a princess? I can see that quite easily now that I know actually. I can't believe your brother would do that to you, it's so cruel." He continued after a pause, "what… of the dwarf we met in Denerim, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Oh, yes. _Him_. His name is Gorim. I had very fond feeling towards him. We had been companions for many years, he was my friend, my second, my right hand man, I trusted him without reservation. We might have considered ourselves lovers, except that we never... um… well anyway," her voice sounded neither bitter nor angry now, only sad and disillusioned.

Shaking her head as if to clear her thoughts, she continued, "I had sometimes thought, in my crazier moments, that we should run away together, to the surface-world. Because we could be together there, free of the iron rules of Orzammar. You see, he is from the warrior caste; he is not a noble, so my father would never have allowed me to marry him. When I escaped the deep roads I kept this mad hope that I would find him. I figured since we would both be exiled to the surface, that we could have some kind of future together. I really had hoped that … I was so incredibly stupid!" she said crossly, but Alistair could see a few tears on her cheeks.

He pulled her into a hug again, and was pleasantly surprised when she hugged him back. She felt so tiny, as he rested his chin on the top of her head.

"On the topic of bad people... thank you for being there when I spoke to Goldanna. I can hardly believe that shrew is my half sister. To think I have wasted so much time wondering about her… At any rate, I am glad that I at least saw her, now I know. And thank you for talking me down after we left, I really appreciated your advice. I will take more notice of my own feelings, not always put others before myself." He was smiling as he said this; it was such an alien concept to him. He had always followed the rules, always placed other people and duty above and before his own needs and wants.

He gently pulled her away from him, tilting her face up to look at him, he regarded her for a long moment before finally speaking.

"Well, that Gorim fellow is a moron for letting you go. Princess or not you are a special person. I guess I'm trying to tell you that I really care about you, and I appreciate you for _you_," he said softly, smiling.

"Thank you, Alistair. You are special to me too," she replied, returning his smile.

After a few moments they returned, walking hand in hand, to camp.


End file.
